Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as “Daniels”). The film has grossed over $57 million worldwide, becoming A24’s highest-grossing film domestically. The film was acclaimed by critics, who lauded its imagination, direction, the performances of the cast, and its handling of themes such as existentialism, nihilism, and Asian American identity.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness grossed $480 million worldwide in the first week of its release. No argument about the movie being a massive commercial success already but what about its merits? Is the movie a worthy addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)? This is exactly what we will discuss in this movie analysis.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a 2022 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Doctor Strange (2016) and the 28th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The Secrets of Dumbledore is a 2022 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. It is the sequel to The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series, and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise.
The Outfit is a 2022 American crime drama film directed by Graham Moore in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Moore and Johnathan McClain. The movie stars Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Dylan O’Brien, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Simon Russell Beale.
Moonfall is a 2022 science fiction disaster film co-written, directed, and produced by Roland Emmerich. Starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, and Donald Sutherland, the movie follows two former astronauts alongside a conspiracy theorist who discover the hidden truth about Earth’s moon when it leaves its orbit and set to collide with the Earth.
Death on the Nile is a 2022 mystery film directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The novel had been previously adapted as a film in 1978 and is a sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, also starring Branagh as the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.
Deep Water is a 2022 erotic psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne, from a screenplay by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. Lyne, of course, is best known for erotic film thrillers like Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, 9½ Weeks and is his first film in 20 years.
The Batman movie analysis is our breakdown of the latest franchise reboot of DC Comics’ most valued intellectual property. Obviously The Batman movie analysis will contain spoilers so… if you are looking for a review of The Batman without spoilers, please click on this link. As always, we will analyse the movie based on the following story elements: plot, characters and themes.
After Yang is a 2021 American science fiction drama film written, directed, and edited by Kogonada. It stars Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson. The plot follows a family’s mission to repair their unresponsive robotic child. The film is an elegiac rumination on mortality and what it means to be human.
The Batman is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. The film was directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. It stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The film is essentially the latest reboot of the Batman franchise.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese director who has made several critically acclaimed award-winning films, the most successful of which is of course Drive My Car, nominated for this year’s Academy Awards viz. Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Having reviewed Drive My Car already, we wanted to analyse three other features, together with a short, that defined the work of Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Licorice Pizza is a 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, alongside an ensemble cast including Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, and Benny Safdie. The movie has generally been well-received, having been nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The King’s Man is a 2021 spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek and a story by Vaughn. The third installment in the Kingsman film series, which is based on the comic book The Secret Service (later retitled to Kingsman) by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, it is a prequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).
Drive My Car is a 2021 Japanese drama film co-written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. It is primarily based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name from his 2014 short story collection Men Without Women while taking inspiration from other stories in it. Besides Drive My Car, Hamaguchi directed the anthology Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, also released in 2021.
Nightmare Alley is a 2021 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan, based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, being the second feature film adaptation of Gresham’s novel, following the 1947 version. (Wikipedia)
House of Gucci is a 2021 American biographical crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott, based on the 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden. The story revolves around the shocking true story of the Gucci family feud that costs them the control of their prestigious fashion business.
Belfast is a 2021 British coming of age comedy-drama film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. The semi-autobiographical film, which Branagh has described as his “most personal film”, centres on a young boy’s childhood amidst the tumult of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1960s. The film stars Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Morgan, and newcomer Jude Hill.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a 2021 American supernatural comedy film directed by Jason Reitman, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gil Kenan. The movie is a sequel to Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, which were both released in the 1980s. The movie is the latest in the fan-service nostalgia driven franchise soft reboot trend that Hollywood has been lazily indulging in of late.
The Best Films of 2021 is based on the films that we have reviewed on Power of Pop in 2021. Most of these films were watched online, as visits to the cinema were hampered by the damned pandemic. Truth be told, overall, TV series were stronger than films in storytelling and characterisations and we will get to that particular list in a later post.
Don’t Look Up is a 2021 American satirical science fiction black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Adam McKay. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two low-level astronomers attempting to warn mankind, via a media tour, about an approaching comet that will destroy Earth.
The Matrix Resurrections is a 2021 American science fiction action film produced, co-written, and directed by Lana Wachowski. It is the sequel to The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and the fourth instalment in The Matrix film series. The film brings back Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss and Jada Pinkett-Smith to reprise their roles from the original trilogy.
Spider-Man : No Way Home is a superhero action-adventure drama starring Tom Holland as everybody’s favourite wall-crawler. The film is the final instalment in the Sony-Marvel Spider-Man trilogy that sets the hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). After the relatively weak performances of MCU fare in 2021, No Way Home has been highly anticipated worldwide.
The superhero movie genre originated in comic books at the tail end of the 1930s and flourished during one of mankind’s darkest epochs viz. World War II. Since the conclusion of that war, superhero comics have been struggling for acceptance as an art form in its own right.
The Last Duel is a 2021 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager. The film is a period drama set in 14th century France.
